ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MUSIC

How Music Shapes Our Future Perceptions

“Sound directs our passage through time. It shapes our orientation to the future moment and also to the moment when the future stops.” - The Wall Street Journal

Charlotte Symphony Is Making Big Investments In Immersive Performances

“It is going to be a space you can choose where to be and how to listen,” Fisk said. “We want people to lose themselves in this music and to be swallowed up by the experience of being part of nature.” - Charlotte Observer (MSN)

Why Some Non-Christian Composers Are Attracted To Christmas Material: David Lang

"Every Christmas, I ask myself this question, because accidentally I — a Jewish composer — have also written something of a Christmas classic: the little match girl passion. Cynics may think that these artists make Christmas music because they’re chasing the market. I believe there is something deeper at work." - The New York Times

Is The World’s Largest Fully-Functioning Musical Instrument In Jeopardy?

The organ in the old Wanamaker's department store, right across from City Hall, is a Philadelphia icon. Yet the store, currently a Macy's, is shrinking just like other department stores; the building is in receivership as upper-floor office space remains vacant post-COVID; and Macy's lease expires in 2027. - The Conversation

The New Music Counterculture – It’s Anti-Algo, Anti-Perfection

These creators are opting not to play in the traditional music business lane (largely because they would struggle to get the rights cleared). So, instead they are operating in the music business’ ‘grey market’ – not quite a black market but not the formal market either. - Music Industry Blog

Kent Nagano Named Next Artistic Director Of Spain’s National Orchestra And Choir

The 73-year-old California native, currently finishing his term as general music director of the Hamburg State Opera, will succeed David Afkham as chief conductor and artistic director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in September of 2026. - La Vanguardia (Barcelona) (via Google Translate)

Sam Goody Is Closing Its Last Two Brick-And-Mortar Music Stores

"Since 2022, the chain’s last two stores were located in the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and the Rogue Valley Mall in Medford, Oregon. According to reports, both are now set to close early next year." - Rolling Stone (Yahoo!)

Far-Right Propagandists Are Using AI-Generated Songs To Spread Hate

While the practice currently seems to be most common in Europe, it's been documented from the US to India to Australia as well. Groups use pop idioms from hip-hop to Eurovision-Song-Contest style and won't hesitate to use the voices of stars such as Céline Dion and politicians such as Narendra Modi. - ArtsHub

Brazilian Judge Orders Adele Song Be Pulled Worldwide Over Plagiarism Claim

Preliminary injunction, obtained on Monday by AFP, orders Sony and Universal to stop “immediately and globally, from using, reproducing, editing, distributing or commercializing the song Million Years Ago, by any modality, means, physical or digital support, streaming or sharing platform”. - The Guardian

Judge In Brazil Orders Sony/Universal To Withdraw Adele Song Worldwide

The injunction requires Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music to stop distributing Adele's "Million Years Ago" in any and every format during an ongoing plagiarism claim by a Brazilian composer. The Brazilian subsidiaries of the labels will be fined $8,000 "per act of non-compliance." - AFP (Yahoo!)

Muti Opines: Didn’t Know Who Klaus Mäkelä Is

“I have my opinions, but I will not tell you. I didn’t want to take part in the search, so I was completely out of it. As I should be. So I didn’t even know the person that they chose. No, because I do not keep up with what happens here or there with other orchestras in Oslo or...

Composer Margaret Brouwer, Still Busy As She Approaches 85

"Eighty-five is a milestone, no matter one’s field. That, though, isn’t what Brouwer is celebrating. No, all she’s really thinking about are the commissions on her plate and the stack of older works awaiting revision or arrangement for other instruments." - The Land (Cleveland)

Nicole Ritchie And Paris Hilton’s Excellent Opera?

It’s an enlightening moment, one of many it turns out, in “Paris & Nicole,” a three-episode lark about Hilton and Richie reuniting to write an opera based on their decades of friendship. This art form, they learn with jaws dropped, isn’t easy. - The New York Times

The Guardian’s Favorite Classical Music Recordings Of 2024

Aside from Yunchan Lim and Vilde Frang, a notable (if challenging) development is that “the age of the all-star studio-made opera recording is very much over. DVDs of stage productions now easily outnumber new audio-only opera sets.” - The Guardian (UK)

In Glasgow, A New Way To Support Small Music Venues

A £1 charge on tickets to the largest music venue is the way, the town council believes. - BBC

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